Shiver Me Timbers Read online

  When Prometheus returned to Pyrax, Commander Logan found herself catapulted to the overdue rank of captain JG. She also found her ship thrust into navy politics as they waited in port for their next mission. She went through a series of after-action reviews while her ship was stripped of personnel instead of immediately serviced. She had known her crew were long overdue for a promotion and new assignment of their own but it still burned.

  Once cleared of the boards Shelby found some time for liberty to visit old friends and haunts. She was also excited to find out Prometheus's mission to Tau sector was a go. Prometheus was intended to be the guiding light in Tau, a path to renew their civilization and drive out the pirates. But, they had to get there first.

  Meanwhile the detachment from the Horathain's Fourth Fleet arrived in Tau and began to spread weaponized plagues on inhabited worlds they visited on their way to Tortuga, the pirate capital of the sector.

  Over the next several months Shelby and her XO had to fight for resources and personnel, first to finish outfitting her ship, and then to get the resources she needed for the mission to the Tau sector. Her main competition for resources was the Eastern Front. Setbacks on the main front led to a series of delays.

  Once the offense was back on, her mission was given priority to move forward at all speed. Old friends joined her ship. An old enemy in the form of a copy of the wraith virus was vanquished. Caroline returned with fresh news from her father as well as officers. Last minute antics by naval politics threatened to strip her of the resources and ships she needed but she persevered and got them back. She was surprised to be bumped to captain SG over Admiral Subert's objections just prior to the launch of the mission.

  Meanwhile, the Fourth Fleet pirates encountered one of the two Federation cruisers exploring the sector and lost a ship in a short savage battle at the jump point. Puglia was maimed and hid in a nebula. The remaining three ships managed to get to Tortuga later.

  Her sister ship Belfast encountered several pirate vessels. The Black Corsage battle forced both ships to limp away to lick their wounds and plot their revenge.

  A convoy from the capital brought the last of Shelby's supplies, ships, and personnel, including some civilian government representatives. Her mission was split into three convoys, with her ship serving as the flagship of the largest while the ansibles were brought in the Beta convoy. A smaller task force of cruisers called Gamma convoy was promised to her.

  Once underway the convoy made good time to Airea 3 where they paused to build some defensive works there. While there a courier arrived with a promotion for Shelby to acting commodore, complete with new keys, implants, and an internal A.I.

  Once Shelby had integrated her new partner Bonibi, they took the ninety-light-year jump to the Tau sector. The long journey took nearly a year and a half to complete. When they arrived they were shocked and dismayed to find that plagues had hit the population of several worlds. Offers of assistance were turned down. She sent back a courier with warning to Rho and then marched sternly onward.

  The three remaining Fourth Fleet ships arrived at Tortuga. To their horror and dismay they found it inhabited by Neos and aliens as well as humans. They carefully hid their true mission from their “comrades” and even convinced them to help sow the seeds of destruction in the sector. One of the cruisers was dispatched in a loop to Virgin Holes and back while the other went west and north to Dead Man's Hand and back.

  The Prometheus convoy was turned down repeatedly in their offers to help stem the plague. Frustrated but not giving up, they were finally invited to help by desperate survivors. It took a lot of work and luck to find out the pirates were spreading more than one plague before they got a handle and a cure for them. They then sent a courier out with news of the cure and confirmation that it was being spread by the pirates.

  While the Fourth Fleet ships spread the plague, the Prometheus convoy did their best to cure them wherever they went. They marched steadily into the center of the sector.

  Wanting more information, the pirate admiral ordered his battlecruiser Black Death and entourage to take a shortcut to the Virgin Holes base. There he waited for the arrival of the Fourth Fleet ships and held court.

  The Prometheus convoy encountered and recovered Puglia and was seen by some enemy ships who raced to alert their comrades of such a fat and juicy target. Some of the pirate ships behind them encountered the plague though. Unaware they were infected.

  Belfast managed to jump in and scout Virgin Holes undetected. She then jumped out ahead of the arrival of Black Corsage.

  When Fancy, the Fourth Fleet cruiser, arrived in Virgins Holes, she found unexpected company. While they docked Black Corsage arrived with her own tale and fresh battle scars to prove it. The Neolion admiral decided to move to track down the Feds.

  Commodore Logan guided her team north to the star system Tau-1252, where, after negotiations, she set up the new base and potential new sector capital. The convoy was rapidly unloaded and the various structures and bases were built while overworked Spacebees went around the native's space colonies and helped recondition them.

  Months after Prometheus's arrival the Beta convoy of ansible transports arrived. They were horrified by the reports of the plague.

  Pressed to do something about the plagues, Commodore Logan released a small task force to go pirate hunting as well as her hospital ship and escorts to visit planets they'd passed through to help try to cure the plague. She also began a plan to convert some of the frieghter tenders into hospital ships to do the same.

  The shipyard rapidly grew in strength and size once the industry in the system took root and began to expand exponentially. Within weeks they had begun defenses around the jump point as well as constuction of their first sublight frigates.

  Vice Admiral Ishmael encountered some of his ships and a few encountered the Fed ships before he settled on the trail of the convoy.

  Meanwhile a convoy of hospital ships and escorts arrived in the sector and began to spread the cure under the command of Commodore Richards. They sent a courier to alert the capital of their arrival.

  The Kill Force that had been sent out to go pirate hunting picked up signs of the enemy force moving up the convoy's rear and jumped ahead of them with word of warning. They managed to get to the new capital much to Commodore Logan's relief. There she began to scheme as she consolidated her forces.

  Black Death's task force of twenty ships damaged Mercy flight 1's escort but the Fed ships got away. The ships raced to the capital and were repaired and added to the defenses. Commodore Logan sent a cruiser to ambush the enemy and delay them to the neighboring star system. There the ship encountered the courier Blitzen that had been playing rear gaurd and warning the natives of the impending arrival of the pirates.

  When the pirates arrived in the star system, Blitzen's departure distracted them from the ambush. Zeng He remotely set off missile pods and weapon platforms to damage several ships and get criticial data on their defenses. Once the ships had fended off the attack and left, they raced ahead with the precious data.

  When the pirates arrived in Tau-1252, the Federation forces were ready for them. They were penned up at the jump point by a wall of mines. Missile pods were fired on them while weapon platforms deployed.

  The pirates took damage initially loosing their screen of six destroyers. Admiral Ishmael fought his way clear of the trap, crippling or destroying several Federation ships in the process. He found his task force being attritioned as one by one they were wittled away.

  On a hunch Commodore Logan contacted the admiral under a flag of parlay. She informed him of the treachery from his homeworld. He turned on Fancy and the freighter 8116. Fancy was destroyed. The admiral refused to surrender, reminding the commodore that they were pirates.

  The remaining pirate ships ran to the Tortuga jump point. In one last throw of the dice, Commodore Logan let loose her fighters and gunships. They pulled a trick on the pirates, allowing the gunships into range with torped
oes to mount a torpedo strike that crippled or destroyed many of the remaining pirate ships. When the cloud of debris cleared, only the two warships and five support ships remained. The fighters fell on the support ships. The pirates destroyed three before the remaining two including 8116 managed to surrender to the Feds. In the end only Black Death and Black Corsage escaped.

  Weeks later the two ships returned to Tortuga where they took their revenge on the Horathain scientists who had remained behind. One of those scientists took her own revenge by dousing herself in plagues before she was taken by the Neos …

  Act I

  Chapter 1

  Tortuga

  Jericho grinned as he finished his report. He looked over to security. The chief had ordered the lab to be secured; there would be no looting or pillaging. That was a pity, but it was smart. There was no telling what was dangerous in the lab. They'd gotten off lucky without hitting something bad. He didn't want for them to press their luck with the lady.

  Besides, he'd gotten enough pleasure out of being in on personally killing the bitch. Ripping her apart had been quite a pleasure though he had been reprimanded for not bringing her to the lords. Too bad. Even rank and file betas and gammas like his kind deserved some payback from time to time.

  He licked some of the blood off of his muzzle. Her blood of course, sticky from its time on his fur. He'd need to get a thorough cleaning before he visited Val and the cubs when he was off duty.

  He snuffled and then sneezed. He felt his chest tickle with the desire to cough but he repressed it.

  He must have gotten some of her blood up his nose or something. He shook his head. Whatever the reason, best to get cleaned up before his shift ended.

  <()>^<()>

  Black Death

  Admiral Leonidas Ishmael rubbed his brow tiredly as he considered the future. He'd survived the pirate lords meeting. He was honestly surprised by that. Only the betrayal of Horath and throwing Doctor Wilhelm and the others to the lords had allowed him to keep his position.

  At least for the time being he thought.

  May they ever find another target for their ire he thought. He knew he couldn't be too old, couldn't be too tired and ready to be pulled down from his lofty position. He'd survived this far, right? And he had managed to extract two of his twenty ships from the trap he'd found himself in the Tau-1252 star system.

  Two, just two. His force had out-massed the enemy, but he'd been a fool. He hadn't accounted for gathering intelligence ahead of time. He'd relied on his outdated knowledge of the star system. He hadn't expected the defenses there nor had he expected the enemy to be that formidable.

  He shivered as he adjusted the patch covering his missing eye. His tail flicked in annoyance; the tuff at the end hitting his thigh. Maybe he was getting old. But damned if he'd turn over command to anyone else. No one had his training. Kix came close but he'd spent so long in the number two slot most of the other lords would reject him for the leadership role.

  The African Neolion roared a yawn and then licked his scarred lips. His people had been amiable to him once they'd had their taste of human blood. He'd detailed a group of ships to cover the Tau-1252 jump point. They'd headed out in a motley lot. He reminded himself to have Kix assign someone more reliable to ride herd on them. With any luck they could ambush a force as it came in, though he couldn't count on luck. At least, not anymore. Lady Luck's blessings were favoring another person now.

  His battlecruiser flagship Black Death had been brutalized in the battle. She had just about shot herself dry of all forms of missiles. The Tauren battlecruiser had been hardy though; she'd survived against all odds. She'd lost most of her weapons in the process, but she'd survived.

  He needed her back into fighting trim as quickly as possible if he was going to maintain control of the other pirates as well as have a chance at beating off any Federation offenses that came his way. That was why he had Captain Dab and Captain Black working with Kix to get the job done.

  He had decided to remain on the ship despite the battlecruiser being laid up in the yard for hasty repairs and resupply. He'd even gone so far as to keeping his harem/pride on board. The stated reason was for his comfort, but it was also in case he needed to leave the system in a hurry.

  To say that his position had been undermined by the retreat was putting it mildly. His unceremonious return with his tail figuratively tucked between his legs in a broken and nearly toothless ship hadn't sat well with him or anyone. Black Corsage, Captain Gutt's heavy cruiser, was barely better off than his own.

  And the stated reason he was remaining on his ship, to make sure he could command from her in a hurry should the Feds arrived, kept that undercurrent and scuttlebutt that he wanted a fast getaway alive.

  It also pointed to his avoidance of wanting to face the pirate lords or the public on Tortuga.

  Fortunately, Captain Gutt and a few of the other older pirate lords had remained loyal to him. He wasn't certain if it was due to his rank and long-standing with them or because they knew that if he was pulled down the others would resort to infighting and then break up as they fled, doing most of the work of the Feds for them. It could have also been due to the shock of the betrayal of the homeworld.

  He had shut down any ship that had attempted to leave. He would need to work on the lords and public. Decisive action and a healthy reminder of who they didn't want to cross should put an end to the muttering.

  He checked on the lords. Just as he'd thought, most had returned to their ships after the report of the lab's breech and deaths. They'd even sounded recall, no doubt just in case the enemy showed up. It was a pity that the wolves hadn't made the bitch's death last longer.

  The same for Wilhelm. That one had deserved to spend days in pain before he'd expired. He'd gotten off lightly.

  A mob was at play in the base, hunting down supporters of the Horathians. He'd heard a few had been strung up. Shore patrol was concerned about the rapes, but he shrugged such things off. The women should know better by now and the men who'd suffered too.

  He turned to working on a tentative plan to mount a counter offense. But he needed a better way to handle it. If he could just get the commodore to turtle he might have a chance to evacuate the cream of Tortuga to one of the other bases.

  But she could have their locations too he reminded himself.

  He had a dozen ships already in space. None were larger than a light cruiser. He'd taken the cream with him to Virgin Holes and on that last death ride. He needed them on the picket. He wrote out orders for six of the best to get to the Tau-1252 jump point and to picket it.

  That left the others, plus the twenty-seven warships still in dock. There were ten additional warships clearing for action. Another twelve were trying to get underway but were reporting various levels of readiness. Two had malfunctioning hyperdrives. They were doomed to remain if they couldn't get them repaired. Five more were dark. They had been cannibalized for parts. He had no idea if they could be repaired or not.

  Seventy ships were prize ships within the interior of the rock and docked to the ring around the exterior. Six of those had been turned into habitats. They were trying to get underway, but there was no way they'd do it—not with so many changes to their hulls and spaces. He shook his head and mentally wrote them and their crews off.

  Nineteen ships were privateers, former prize ships turned into armed ships. They were old though; most of the privateers were either out and about collecting booty or in other ports. Those that remained were trying to get crews. Only three were out of the dock and were reporting that they were functional.

  No doubt the gnolls and other engineers had their work cut out for them. Well, tough for the other ships, his came first.

  The light blinked indicating an incoming call. He checked the status; it was internal on the ship. The caller ID said it with the ship's XO. He snorted and hit the accept key with his right index claw.

  “Sir, we've got that latest report on the damage and an initial
schedule on repairs,” Commander Dolon Lycaon reported. The commander was the XO of the ship. Captain Black was in command but the commander's …unique status with Captain Wilda Dab helped in some ways.

  “Good, good.”

  He personally doubted they'd be able to do much soon. The yard was a truss slip with the core made out of an old factory ship. Habitat modules had been tacked on as she'd grown, like cancerous growths. Most of those modules held basic equipment or stores at best. Trying to rebuild a ship like Black Death let alone Black Corsage was pushing it he knew.

  Not that he wasn't going to do so anyway. He'd already promised the Neoorangutan that his precious Black Corsage would be next in line.

  “Are we still going to try to mount an offense, sir?”

  The admiral studied the Neowolf thoughtfully and then shrugged. “We've got the yard, we've got the warehouses, let's use them.” He left unsaid that it would at least keep his people busy and doing something. Who knows, it might work. At the least it would give them more material or even ships to use to defend the base or run with should it come to either scenario.

  “You think we can win, sir?”

  “I think we if we run we'll keep running. I'm an admiral, damn it—a lion not a mouse!” the admiral roared, finally losing patience. It had been a long stressful day.

  The Neowolf's eyes widened on the screen. “Aye aye, sir. Sorry, sir. No disrespect, sir,” he said, raising his muzzle in token of submission.

  The admiral saw that and then grunted. He heard a chur behind him and turned to see the ladies coming out of their quarters to see what the fuss was about. “Handle it. Unless there is an emergency, don't disturb me. I expect some major progress on all fronts when I return to duty tomorrow.”

  “Ah … aye aye, sir. I'll pass that along,” the wolf said nervously.

  “See that you do. And maybe we can arrange a conjugal visit with your mate in the near future,” the admiral teased wickedly. He saw the naked fear in the wolf's expression and chuffed in amusement as he shut the channel down.